1922.1 Buonaparte contrasted with the Duke of Marlborough. anno 1522. capable of resistance, by watching all the enemy's motions, by intercepting their convoys, attacking their advanced posts, and harassing them continually with their numerous cavalry, to ruin them with the length of the war, or to beat them by piece-meal. Id. an Defection of his Officers. Upon fluctuation of the fortunes of the Chieftain, the officers begin to waver, because they know, that they according to their rank shall proportionally be the victims; and the common soldiers and vulgar escape, because they have little concern for the future. Tacit. Ann. iii. 31. His abdication, necessity of. A man may be in the end neither capable of commanding or forbidding, but only the cause of war. Tacit. Ann. iii. 70. His submission. Shame renders persons more placable. Id. Annal. iii. 18. Capture of Paris, and return of the King. In civil discords advice is given by all, danger and risk are incurred by few. In ruined affairs, all order and none execute. Tacit. Hist. iii. 69, 73. His exile. When a person is too popular to be cut off, and yet by retaining or pardoning him discord would ensue, exile is the measure to be taken. Tacit. Hist. iv. 18. His return and favourable reception. A nation, given to change, as it is slow to incur risques, so it is faithless under opportunities. Tucit. Ann. xiv. 23. Authority and respect for the general may overpower treachery and infidelity in the soldier. Id. Hist. iii. 80. His advance against Wellington. Cæsar, when in imminent danger of powerful attacks, considered every thing to consist in speed. Bell. Gall. L. vii. Having made these extracts, of course impartial, because written with no reference to Buonaparte, I beg to offer in contrast, the character of Marlborough, deduced from the elaborate memoirs of Mr. Archdeacon Coxe. "Marlborough was a man of pure ambition, bred in a profession which required only a situation fitted to display the unavoidable results of calculation and judgment. A General must have the qualities of a cautious Merchant, an able Gambler, and a deep Jockey. With his ambition, he united the idea not of the throne, but of rendering it a Temple, of which he was to be the petual High Priest. His Duchess by her violence, ruined the plan. Marlborough's dark conduct, and jacobite tamperings might have excited suspicion, but, as they were per 413 merely personal, they would not have terrified. His Duchess set fire to the fuse, because she had not self-command, through her overpowering enthusiasm: a sensation which induces persons to think, that others will feel like themselves. She thought, and justly thought, that her husband was the greatest man of the day, and that his glory was to bear down all opposition, was to awe like lightning. But she forgot that she excited alarm, and that confidence and friendship cannot exist, where there is apprehension. Anne was not insensible of the services of Marlborough, but his greatness rendered her afraid of him. He however had no treasonable designs, and well knew, that revolutions for the mere sake of individuals, appertain only to elective monarchies. Still he felt, that he was the first General and tion, but of the whole world. Had he atthe first Statesman, not only of his own natained the situation to which he aspired, that of supreme arbitrator of events in Europe, the balance of power would have saved his country two thirds of our present National Debt, for no country single-handed, but France, can distress the European powers. Parties however annoyed the Minister, and Marlborough, a real patriot, with no other selfish views than those of making a fortune by his profession, and being the factotum, fell a victim to nonsense, no better than an Ostracism, to Sacheverell and Mrs. Masham, and pulling chairs from the bottoms of together in childish folly. It seems, that Statesmen, that they might all tumble down disputations have been held in colleges, about the merits and faults of Marlborough, and determined in condemnation of him. It has in similar style been said, that Eclipse was a bad-tempered horse. Moral qualifications are a fair test, applied to a Saint, but what have they to do with the public services of a General? These last are exwise man say, that a single victory, gained cellences of the highest order, and can any by an officer, is not far more serviceable to his country than all his regularity in private life, for one serves a whole country, the latter only individuals?" Adam Smith says of Marlborough, "that such uninterrupted and such splendid successes, as scarce any other General could boast of, never betrayed him into a single rash action, scarce into a single rash word or expression." Coxe, vi. 404. It cannot be said of Buonaparte, that his successes were uninterrupted, or that he was never rash in word or action. It may therefore be justly affirmed, notwithstanding the idolatry of thousands, who puff him, as if he was a relative, from whom they derived honour, that what Lord Boling broke 414 The Rev. William Atkinson, and Rectory of Hillington. A Philosopher thinks, that if we know the situation in which a man is placed, we may, by the aid of History, also know the principles by which, through that situation, he must be unavoidably actuated; and if so, guard against possible future mischief, by prudent anticipation, or adopt measures suited to circumstances, of sure effect. The Roman policy is, upon the whole, the best the world ever knew, and Tacitus ought to be the bible of every statesman. A strong testimony of this has recently been exhibited. Your Reviewer, Mr. Urban, in his notice of Mason's "Dublin," observed, that the vexations proceeding from Ireland are owing to the neglect of Roman policy, in not incorporating the conquered with the victors. So just was the remark, that Mr. Goulburn, in his speech in Parliament, April 22, 1822, concerning Sir J. Newport's motion, respecting the state of Ireland, observes," that all the misgovernments or rather conquests of Ireland caused most of the evils under which that country suffered. Ireland had been conquered, as no other country had ever been conquered. There had been no disposition to amalgamate the people." (St. James's Chronicle, April 20-23, 1822.) Among the Romans (says Mad. de Stael, Literature, ii. 183, Engl. Transl.) "Historians were so correct, as never to have been equalled by the Moderns; and so accurate were the Ancients in their judgments of human nature, that Hogarth has absolutely arranged his Ethical prints upon Aristotle's division of Tragedy, though probably he did not know that such a man ever existed." (Clavis Hogarthiana, p. 6.) [May, much astonished at the biographical sketch you have given in your number for March, p. 278, of the late Rev. William Atkinson, rector of Hillington. Had you confined yourself to a panegyrick upon the character of the reverend gentleman, I should have allowed it, however undeserved, to have passed without notice, but having reflected upon the memory of my late honoured and much respected father, I take leave to send you the following statement of facts. In Mr. Atkinson, as you observe, was educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge. He there formed a friendship with Sir Martin Browne Folkes, Bart. then Mr. Folkes. After the usual time spent in College, they separated, but the friendship did not end here, for Sir Martin promised to present his friend to the living of Hillington, when it might become vacant. the year 1782, the incumbent died, and Mr. Atkinson took possession of the promised rectory. In 1784, he advanced the composition for the tithes of the parish 301. a year beyond what his predecessor had taken, and, in consideration of that advance, he agreed to grant to the parishioners a lease for twenty-one years. No long time, however, had elapsed, before the Rector regretted the bargain he had made, and the agreement not being drawn on stamped paper, he declared his intention of not abiding by it. The penalty, however, was paid, and the instrument stamped, by the parishioners, and the Rector was bound by it with some of them to the completion of the term intended. For another unsuccessful attempt which the Rector made to set aside this agreement, I beg to refer you to the case, Atkinson v. Folkes, and others, which was heard in Trinity Term, 32 Geo. III. It may be seen, with the decision of the Barons, in Anstruther's Reports, vol. I. p. 67. At the expiration of the twentyone years, the Rector required such an exorbitant composition (more than half the rental of the land in the parish), that it was impossible to comply with his demands, and consequently the tithes have from that time been taken in kind. By his own act he thus "incurred expences," and voluntarily brought upon himself the "vexation and anxiety of mind" complained of. By 1822.] Rev. W. Atkinson.-Account of the Lane Family. By whom "the farmers and the poor were industriously set on to in sult him on all occasions" does not appear; but that a Clergyman, who had quarrelled with his Patron, who took the tithes of his parish in kind, and who wished at one time to take advantage of a revenue law, and at another time his own illegal act, to set aside his own agreement, should not meet with much respect from his parishioners, is not surprizing. It is not my business here to deny the great qualities attributed to him; I shall therefore make no remark upon "his endless charities," nor upon his general deportment in his parish. "This parish and that of East Wolton, ought never to forget his exertions in a petition to the Lord High Chancellor, by which" the parish of Hillington have lost all benefits from the charity since the proceedings commenced about five years ago; nor will they receive any till the law expences are paid. The lands were in the hands of Sir M. B. Folkes, and two other country gentlemen, as trustees for the poor of the two parishes. They had let the lands, and the rents were paid to the Churchwardens, who distributed a moiety to the poor of each parish. The Master in Chancery, to whom the matter was referred, gave it as his opinion in his report, that the lands had been properly let, and the Vice Chancellor ordered that Sir Martin's expences should be paid out of the funds of the charity. Sir Martin's Counsel proposed that each party should pay their own expences. Mr. Atkinson's Counsel would not accede to the proposal. He also rebuilt the parsonagehouse," but with borrowed money upon the living, and to which the Patron did not withhold his consent. The house has been finished about sixteen years, and is in a state of decay from the materials and workmanship employed. As I have confined myself to a bare recital of facts, which I am prepared to substantiate when called upon, I rely upon your candour to give this letter a place in your next number. WM. BROWNE FOLKES. 415 the following particulars relative to the subject of his enquiries. In Shaw's "Staffordshire," vol. II. p. 97, is the pedigree of the Lane family, who were seated at Wolverhampton in the time of Edward II. and afterwards at Bentley near that ́ town. The lineal descendants of Colonel John Lane (who with the aid of his sister Mrs. Jane Lane, afterwards the wife of Sir Clement Fisher, preserved Charles II. after the battle of Worcester), and representatives of the family, are John Lane of King's Bromley in Staffordshire, Esq. formerly Fellow of Queen's College, Cambridge, and Barrister-at-law, and his brother, Thomas Lane, Esq. of Leyton Grange, Essex, both now living. The mansion-house and estate at Bentley, was sold by the late John Lane, Esq. King's Bromley was the property of John Newton, Esq. formerly of Spettisbury in Dorsetshire, who dying without issue, devised his estates to his sisters Elizabeth, and Sarah, widow of Sir Lister Holte. Elizabeth, the survivor, died Dec. 24, 1794, and devised King's Bromley, among other property, to her cousins John Lane, and Thomas Lane, Esquires. "On the North side of the collegiate Church in Wolverhampton, is a Chapel antiently called St. Catherine's, but now Mr. Lane's Chancel, in which, among several memorials of the Lane family, is erected a noble monument to the memory of that most loyal and valiant Commander, Colonel John Lane, having his coat of arms and crest engraved upon the top of it, an additional canton of the arms of England being added, in rememembrance of his loyalty and fidelity to King Charles II." Shaw's "Staffordshire," vol. II. The arms now borne by the Lane family are:-Per fesse Or and Azure, a chevron Gules, between 3 mullets counterchanged; on a canton Gules, 3 lions passant gardant, the arms of England. Crest: Out of a wreath Or and Azure, a demy horse, strawberry colour, bridled Sable, bitted and garnished Or, supporting an imperial crown, gold. Motto:" Garde le Roy." The crest was granted to Thomas Lane, I believe the nephew of Mrs. Jane Lane. If that lady really made a request relating to the coat of arms, nothing could be more appropriate, but of the truth I am not informed. Yours, &c. T. R. Mr. 416 ΤΗ [May Remarks on the Distresses of the Times. Mr. URBAN, April 30. HAT Agriculture is suffering, and that many poor creatures are consequently reduced from reasonable affluence and comfort to absolute or relative want, is a truth greatly to be deplored; but, in the midst of this distress, how dreadful it is to observe a number of heartless politicians, urging the miserable to acts of desperation, and encouraging a bold spirit of rebellion and anarchy throughout the land! O! that men would be of one mind in this hour of fearful irritation. O! that the rich, the great, and the good, would fearlessly unite to remedy the evil, not to increase the affliction! —Alas! they do not so; on the contrary, there are a number of able, wealthy, and we are called upon to presume, well-meaning men, who combine all the strength which rank and riches, and ability, can call forth, to calumniate and to degrade that Government, and to inflame the minds of the people, to believe, that all the hardships, which an expensive, but necessary war, inclement seasons, defective harvests, and seditious traitors, by their unceasing and wicked exertions, have produced, are but the natural consequences of a wicked conspiracy amongst the members of Administration against the rights, the liberty, and the happiness of mankind. every thing to hope for in the wisdom of that Government, which justly boasts itself to be the purest system of ethics the ingenuity of man did ever form upon the model of Divine Legislation; then we should have peace in the land, and time would restore to us all the blessings-which God for wise purposes has suspended, but not utterly taken from us. Alas! these state physicians, at a moment when the disease is at its climax, in the very fervour of a feverish paroxysm, feed the mischief, and stimulate the restless spirit to acts of phrenzy. If wise and good men do not now unite and teach the ignorant to be reasonable in their wants and just in their de mands, the evil of to-day will be increased tenfold to-morrow, and the end will be, God only knows how, horrible! If the same persons, many of whom arrogate to themselves a character of superior philanthropy, would only do that justice to others, which they exact when they imagine their own privileges have been injured, we should not hear of insurrections, or rumours of domestic disturbances,-we should not have the sacred tranquillity of our homes broken by fears, or harrassed by continual watchings. If instead of crying aloud to the lowest, the most ignorant, and the most wicked, and prostituting a free press, by publishing daily to the world, that the ministration of Government is in the hands of fools or knaves-that ruin is inevitable, and reform, even in revolution, a premise, and the only premise of better times-if instead of such conduct, they would recommend a pious submission to the will of Providence, and a patient waiting for that benevolence, which in England will not suffer a poor man to ask relief in vain; and at the same time endeavour to convince the people, that they have All things in this world take their course under the ruling hand of Providence, which can alone controul them, and the alterations and vicissitudes which attend all the various conditions of life, are matters of deep regret and complicated anxiety. No rank-no station-no kind or degree - no condition whatsoever is exempt, or entitled to be exempt, from the oc casional visitations of calamity and loss. Commerce at one time exalted her children to the loftiest eminence, and our merchants towered above the highest summits of practicable prospe rity-she withdrew her support and countenance, and her children then fell back and down to the depths of unforeseen affliction. Our manufac tures at one time bore an exalted preference in every market in the known world; at another, every port was shut against them, or they were warehoused a worse than useless, unprofitable drug, and the poor labourer, by whose ingenuity they had been wrought, was urged by want, and the evil advice and wicked influence of miscreant traitors into open rebellion. The ports again are open-the markets free-compe tition has revived, and British skill and British industry have again turned the manufacturer to his loom and his anvil, tired if not ashamed of his seditious associates, and anxious to retrieve, with the comforts of domestic security and peace, his integrity of character, and his character for integrity. The wheel of Time is burthened with continual vicissitudes; a few years 1922.] Select Vestries and Perpetual Overseers recommended. years only have passed away since agriculture was the golden idol of universal adoration. Men were mad in their devotions, and sacrifices were made with a zeal as blind as that with which the votaries of Brahma or Vishnu bend before the presumed omnipotence of their imaginary deities. But common sense has discovered the foolishness of this idol worship, and the insufficiency of the god. His want of power to give the promised or the hoped-for good, have turned men back to more sober and more rational conclusions. To use a plainer phrase, suited to the most ordinary comprehension, we may say, that commerce and agriculture are equally liable to the vicissitudes, which in this life attend upon all the concerns of man. One may suffer, and the other thrive, and still they may have but one common interest. Nor are we to suppose that when trade is slack, the manufacturer is ruined, or when the season is unpropitious, the agriculturer is undone. 'Prosperity and adversity are the extremes between which the fortunes of all who speculate in marketable commodities must oscillate with a very unequal force, and to pretend to offer methods by which to prevent or remedy the evils to which our farmers or merchants are equally exposed, arising as these evils do from a complication of causes, not always controulable at the will or by the power of human agency, were a mischievous abuse of common sense, an insult put upon the understanding, only to vex and perplex it with increased and increasing difficulties. But if no general rule or principle of action be applicable to all cases and all circumstances, certainly there are local means of ameliorating the hardest of fortunes, and of suspending actual or threatened evils until better times give more than a prospect of returning prosperity. I shall not attempt to discuss what are the means which the legislative wisdom of Parliament may think fit to adopt for the relief of our present distress; nor will I say what is the impression upon my mind as to the wisdom of any legislative interference whatsoever, in a matter so simple in the estimation of many, in the opinion of others big with the fatal seeds of civil discord, revolution, and ruin; but long habits of experience in the minor GENT. MAG. May, 1822. 417 administration of parochial affairs, (in which, by the way, from the oppressive operation of the poor laws, the chief interests of the agriculturalists are mainly concerned,) will justify a piece of admonition, grounded upon no wild theory, no extravagant prejudice, no unknown uncertain data. Let every parish in the kingdom become the seat of Government for its own security; a few provisions from the statute book will be sufficient to invest with power to do such good the most opulent, the most interested, and the most benevolent of those who are from their wealth, the stake they have at issue, and their charitable dispositions, justly entitled to take the lead, and efficiently to administer the laws made for the common welfare of all classes and every description of persons. There may and must be wisdom in the multitude of counsellors; but there is likewise so much of pride and envy, ignorance and uncharitablenes, ostentation and folly, where great numbers assemble, even for the best of purposes, that the few in these cases will always have an advantage over the many; and more useful business will be done, and it will be better done, in a Select than in a General Vestry. Let then the appointment of this beneficial institution take place every where: be the good as universal as our wants! The 43d of Eliz. although conceived in wisdom, and fraught with benevolence, according to that period, came forth to the world, impregnated with the seeds of many grievous calamities. It is scarcely too much to affirm, that the greater part of the distress which bears so heavily upon Agriculture in the present season of her affliction, arises out of the necessary, unavoidable, and as it is too probable, the unalterable operation of the poor laws. Be this, however, as it may, some beneficial grafts have sprung from the parent stock, and it will be wise to profit in the assurance of some certain good, to counteract very serious and accumulating evils. By this Act of Elizabeth, the administration of all parochial matters, as relating to the relief and employment of the poor, is placed in the hands of certain officers, who, from their presumed occupations, were properly styled overseers. But too little discretion has been |